Fee
by tacit troubadour
Summary: In another life, which grew into the future from where the children came. But before the children came, there were parents. The tale of the two who cheated death.
1. Chapter 1

_Takes place in the first time line, when Grima was not yet Grima._

* * *

Robin sighed and threw her quill onto the tree stump she was using as a make-shift table. Spiderwebs of ink were strung around the parchment, sprawling out messily and glistening wetly.

_Sprawling out in all the wrong directions…_

She sighed and carefully set the map of scribbles onto the cold rock beside her.

_I'll be damned if snow doesn't fall within the next hour._

She shook out her long hair.

_Out of all places it could have been, why damn Regna Ferox?_

Her hand found the edge of a clean piece of parchment and she pulled it out automatically, along with her quill and a new ink bottle.

_…Better Regna Ferox than Ylisse, I must admit._

A brief outline of the territory was drawn, the quill moving along mechanically.

_…There is no stronghold left, we must fight to the fin-_

Something -no- someone exploded from out of the snow-dappled shrubbery, throwing leaves and other debris everywhere. She jumped up in alarm and instinctively opened up her _Thoron_ tomb, forcing herself to bite down on her lip to stop a yell. It was a man who looked somewhat familiar.

She made eye contact with him a split second before the Risen came out. It was obvious that he was badly hurt, as he struggled to rise from the blood-stained snow. Robin recognised a Risen Sorcerer and Sage instantly and whipped open a page of her weapon. She summarised that he was running from them.

Deciding that the Sage was a bigger threat, she chanted the incantation and turned the magic-user to smoke. The Sorcerer, however, completely ignored the loss of the Sage and continued to aim at the weakened man.

"No!" Robin lunged forwards.

That was when she could've lost her life.

Robin, upon some instinct, ran in the path of the _Waste_ spell and took the blow for him. The dark spell did hit her, but she was not injured. Robin saw the cover of her _Thoron_ pulsing slightly and realised it must've shielded her.

_So much for conserving resources._

As the second spell was being readied, she flipped to a new page of _Thoron_ and retaliated. The Sorcerer hissed as it was defeated by the lightning and dissipated in the frosty air, much like its companion.

There was no time to savour her victory. Robin immediately crouched down beside the man and gently lifted his face from the snow. He flinched away from her, but not before she recognised him.

"Oh!" Disbelief washed over her pretty features "You…"

His unruly black hair was even more mattered than she had last seen him. She could hear his laboured breathing and see him trembling.

"Basilio's champion…?" Robin's eyes widened in surprise "But… I thought… only he, Khan Flavia, and a handful of their soldiers made it out…?"

The champion looked up at her direction, but did not meet her gaze. Or could not. His eyes were ragged with exhaustion and slid in and out of focus.

The woman cursed silently.

_What the hell am I thinking, in front of me is a damn person who is hanging with their life on the line and here I am asking them pointless questions._

Out came a crisp page of her tomb and she fired a massive, glowing, orb into the darkening sky. It streaked through the grey of clouds and was slightly obscured by the falling snow, before erupting into a thousand brilliant shards. Robin turned back to him.

Robin moved his head onto her lap, tenderly stroking his hair and ignoring his quiet complaints. He was in terrible condition. She then took off her heavy tactician's-coat and wrapped it warmly around him.

"Hang in there…"

She fished around her pocket for a _Vulnerary_, but her fingers met only the soft fabric of her coat.

"Damn, damn, damn, damn!" Her fingernails dug into her palm "Why?"

He groaned in pain. Robin looked down helplessly. The snow flurried around them, becoming heavier.

"Damn it!" She scavenged through her other pockets "Please, no, please…"

Shivering, she put her hands to his face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, as she watched his eyes closed.

"No, stay awake, please, please!" Robin elevated his head desperately "Please, I promise you will be safe soon, please…"

She felt him become heavier, as he succumbed to his wounds.

"No… please, no!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Stay still, I need to give you some of this _Elixir_."

It was warm. Taking a moment to gather himself, a man shifted his face from a soft pillow beneath him. He was lying on something soft and comfortable, listening to the sounds of a crackling fire. Covering him was a heavy blanket, wrapping around his body and dulling his senses. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the blurry outline of a woman kneeling beside him.

_A woman._

"Good boy."

The woman reached into a pouch on her waist and pulled out a glass vial. He could see a clear, thin liquid swishing around within. It seemed to sparkle in the firelight, dancing here and there and become a silvery blue or a golden red. Hearing a 'pop' when she uncorked the bottle, she lifted his head. He was able to see her carefully measuring the the amount of liquid inside the bottle, as though it were priceless, before tasting a portion of the liquid pouring as it poured into his open mouth. It tasted sweet. Not the disgusting sweet of caramels or truffles, but an acceptable sweet. Like black sugar sweets or star candies. He then felt her hands gently combing through his hair.

Caught in utter surprise, he gagged on-and swallowed-the liquid without thinking. He was in shock that a woman had gotten so close to him. The man proceeded to flail about in panic and attempted to brush her hands away, growling and spitting the word 'woman' like a curse. He succeeded in only lifting an arm upwards and away from the bedding weakly, before having it fall onto a plump pillow placed conveniently above his head. There was no escape for him.

_Unhand me. Now._

"No, be calm, you will strain your wounds…" She consoled him and gripped his wrist firmly "And there will be a bloody mess."

_Stay… away..._

His murmuring had become somewhat slurred, as he wore himself out. The man could feel himself become tired and his weak body protested at the further actions he tried to preform. When his body could not move anymore, he felt his fear escalating. The woman took advantage of his confused state and she spoke to him in a comforting tone.

"Everything is fine now, you are safe, do not fear…"

He listened to her cooing at him a while longer, feeling her hands shivering. Despite being indoors, the bitter winds still managed to find and sneak through passages in the canvas. The woman had kindly lent her coat, bedroll and blanket to the wounded man squirming next to her, but he did not need to know that.

"I need to change your dressings… they have become bloodier."

_Nnngh..._

She furrowed her eyebrows worriedly and patted the top of his messy hair. He shuddered and kicked his legs, wincing at the pain on his back as he did so. She quickly interpreted that his constant movements to get away from her were carried out due to the pain of his wounds and that he was not aware of the fact that she was trying to help him because he was terrified of her. Cautiously adjusting her position, she hoisted him up and trapped his head on her shoulder. He gritted his teeth in agony.

"Pardon me." She began to unwind the bolts of cloth around his abdomen and chest "This may hurt a little…"

_Too... close…_

He went ridged, then completely limp and she gasped at the sudden increase in weight.

"S-sir?" There was an edge of panic in her voice "A-are you awake!?"

There was no response.

She took his pulse from a slack arm. It was very, very fast. Feeling a stab of guilt, she spoke aloud in hopes that he could hear her.

"…Methinks he fainted." The woman continued to loosen the bandages on him, stained red with his blood "I may have been a little too hasty in moving him..."

Depositing the crimson cloth into a metal pot next to her, she unrolled a set of clean dressings and picked up a brush. There was a shortage of staves in the army and all the prices of medicinals were reaching the point of insanity. So, using her extensive knowledge of herbs, she resorted to mixing her own salve. She painted the white fabric with the pink of her mixture and began to patch him up. Round and round the cloth went, covering the pink and cracked burnt skin. His back was peppered with bruises and there was a shallow cut across the burnt flesh, no doubt inflicted after he had been hit by some sort of _Fire_ or _Thunder_ spell.

She carefully set him back down onto the bed and swatted him with a mixture of thick coats and blankets. Leaving him be, the woman scooted away from the bedroll to grab a quill perched on top of a crate. She crawled across the floor of her spacious tent and sat in front of a tome projecting flames out of its pages. Then she doubled back to him and retrieved her tactician's coat from his cloth pile. Crossing her legs, she dipped her quill in the blue ink and continued her spiderweb. She had been so rudely interrupted by several Risen jumping out at her several hours previously that she had not finished her map.

_Is it really a good idea to leave him unattended?_

The tactician snuck a peek at him. He was sleeping peacefully, mumbling in his sleep.

_Hold, I am the one attending to him… should I check on him?_

Distracted, she gazed at him for a few minutes longer. His untidy black hair stuck out against the white sheets and the red glow of her Bolganone tome. It had taken her a while to come to this conclusion, but she found herself thinking:

_He is somewhat handsome..._

Then she hit herself on the head with her quill-free hand.

_Gah, what am I doing!?_

"Back to work now, Robin..." Unrolling a large piece of parchment, she busied herself with the battle plans to retake Port Ferox.


	3. Chapter 3

_Assuming that those who live in Chon'sin speak a Chinese dialect._

* * *

_「龍去，快點！」我聽到柯日開開心心的笑聲「我們差不多來到河邊啦！」_

_ 我看到柯日的長頭髮飛過我。她拿這一個 大藍子，裡面的食物是她前日放下來的。我們今天想去河邊吃午飯。柯日很興奮，因為我們倆剛才在公館出來。_

_「柯日！」我開始加快我的腳步「等…等一下！」_

_ 但是我一伸我隻手出來，想點她的肩膀，她已經消失了。我立即停一停，叫她的名字。我留在這個 位置等多幾分鐘，然后走去一片黑黑的森林口。我經過很多棵樹，終於看到她的影。_

_「柯日！」_

_ 沒有用。她一直在我前面走，不理我。柯日轉左，一棵樹的後面。我聽到她尖叫。我忘掉什麼事發生，除了我把劍闖過強盜的身體。我起上的地面有很多血。四周變紅了。我兩雙腳都不敢動、兩對眼不敢開。如果我開我對眼，我一定知道什麼事發生、前面的景有什麼看。_

_ 我最後都不可以保護柯日。_

_("Lon'qu, hurry!" I heard Ke'ri's happy laughter "We are almost at the riverside!"_

_I saw Ke'ri's long hair fly past me. She held a large basket, inside filled with food she had taken from yesterday. Today we were planning to go to the riverside to eat lunch. Ke'ri was very excited, because we had just snuck out of her mansion._

_"Ke'ri!" I started to speed up my footsteps "W-Wait for me!"_

_But as I stretched my hand out towards her, to tap her shoulder, she had disappeared. I stopped immediately, calling her name. I stayed in this location to wait for a few more minutes, before I ran forwards to the entrance of a dark forest. I ran past many trees then, when I finally saw her shadow._

_"Ke'ri!"_

_It was no use. She continued to run ahead of I, ignoring me. Ke'ri turned left, behind a tree. I heard her scream. I forget what happened exactly, except that my sword had sliced through the bodies of bandits. The ground I stood on had so much blood on it. Everywhere around me was turning red. My feet did not dare move as my eyes did not dare to open. If I opened my eyes, I would definitely know what had happened, what sight lay ahead of I._

_In the end, I could not protect Ke'ri.)_

* * *

A weak morning light filtered into a large tent, though it brought little warmth as Regna Ferox was amidst the cold grip of winter. Robin awoke when she heard screaming. Clambering to her knees, she looked around wildly before resting her eyes on a thrashing lump lying beneath a pile of cloth. She scrambled to her feet and was at the panicked man's side at an instant.

"W-what is the matter?" She threw the many layers off him before urgently dragging him onto her shoulder and patting his head "C-calm down, please."

A terrible scream escaped from him once more and his eyes flew open, pupils dilated with fear. She hurriedly hook his hand and felt cold, pallid flesh, despite him being covered up for the whole night. He had been laid down near a warm fire, to add to that. Hands shaking, she gently unclenched his fist and held it. She ran her fingers along the grooves of his calloused palm and gingerly lifted his fingers to her lips, which she breathed on softly. His fingertips quivered and his gaze slowly slid towards hers.

"Everything is fine, you are safe now…" Robin embraced him fiercely "I promise."

He choked from the sudden increase of pressure.

_Whoops._

"Open your eyes at your own pace." She forced a smile at him, out of embarrassment, but she was certain that it had mutated into a leer "And slowly, at that."

When he attempted to sit up, she heard him wince in pain and Robin held him steady before guiding him back down onto the bedroll. His dark eyes flickered at her briefly as he sank back down. She brushed his hair back when he groaned uncomfortably and Robin was able to conjure a sweeter smile.

"…" The man mumbled something weakly "…"

"Pardon me?" She tilted her head towards him, long hair settling on his torso and the mattress.

"Not… so… " His eyes squeezed shut "Close… woman…"

"Sir, do not exert yourself… you were gravely injured." But she complied to his request and shuffled back a few paces.

_Of all things he could say, upon waking up from right up front Grima's door, he asks his the first person he sees to stay away from him?_

"Thank… you…" Robin could hear him straining his voice "Where… is this…?"

"Someplace safe." She sat cross-legged on the floor "You made quite the spectacle of yourself, Sir, rushing out like that and covered with blood."

"Do all of you women enjoy humiliating men?" He growled angrily "Though you may have seen me in a moment of weakness, you have seen nothing more."

The tactician's eyebrows rose, quite irritated by his attitude.

_He does not seem to comprehend the concept of a joke... shame, I thought he was handsome too._

"It was but a joke, Sir…" Then, she leaned right up to his face, her forehead almost touching his "But if the mere idea is foreign to you, I shall be quite pleased to explain it to you."

"T-TOO CLOSE!" He yelled, then doubled over "G-get... away..."

Robin had fallen backwards in alarm. She felt a stab of guilt when she saw his gaze clouded from pain of his wounds. Robin knew that she had to find something to ease the torture. The bowl of salve on her table-crate was still quite full and she reached out for the brush on the it chair-crate hurriedly. Grabbing the bottle of Elixir hiding elusively behind her stack her tomes along the way, she pried his mouth open and trickled a few drops of the medicine in. He was wheezing and she crouched there, hoping for the best. Finally, his breathing normalised.

"I… I am sorry." Fiddling with her hands, she whispered "Would you mind telling me your name?"

What the tactician could not tell, was the he felt as equally guilty. He had felt, in his delirious state, someone constantly by his side, caring for him. He had listened to the soothing words she had to speak when he fought with her in terror. But the moment when he had actually seen her, a woman, his sense of judgment had faltered from his little contact with women.

"…Lon'qu." He grunted "And… if you… do not mind, what would your… name be...?"

"I am sorry, Lon'qu." Her voice went higher and was edged by a sob "I am so sorry…"

Lon'qu felt hugely wronged, sitting in a silence only broken by her weeping. Her tears fell onto the sheets she had used to cover him, to protect him from the cold. A thorn named 'Shame' stabbed at his side repeatedly when she continued shed tears. Lon'qu avoided looking at her large, teary eyes. He gripped the mattress under the blanket. Not able to deal with the closeness of the woman and her sadness, he steeled his resolve and spoke to her.

"I… am sorry as well." Feeling that he should make the most of their conversation, he asked once more "What is… your name?"

"I go by Robin." She sniffed "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Lon'qu."


	4. Chapter 4

Lon'qu stared upwards idly at the worn canvas of the tent ceiling. He rolled his head over to the left. There was a mixture of books and crates, swirling into a dizzying tower. He looked to his right. Over the blanket, he could see that Robin was hunched up in front of her indoor fire. She had set up some sort of pot-support for cooking something. Currently, it appeared as though she was stirring whatever was inside the pot. The pan was bubbling sluggishly. Lon'qu rested the back of his head on the pillow once more and closed his eyes.

_Will she never leave?_

The man peered at her from behind the sheet. She had scooped a large portion of a white concoction into a wooden bowl and was about to set it down, before she paused to pick up another load and popped that in too. Robin then picked up it's twin and poured the white mixture into it. He noticed that there was a significantly smaller amount in the second bowl than the first.

"You must be starved." She turned around and smiled at him "Have something to eat."

Robin crawled over to him, but stopped a few steps short of his mattress "Worry not, I shall not come too close." She held out a bowl with an outstretched hand.

It was the first bowl.

_… Hmph._

He moved himself up slowly, careful not to stretch his wounds. But that did not stop the pain from being excruciating. His limbs trembled from the harsh commands he put them through and were about to fail him, when soft hands stilled him and lifted him tenderly. Robin had intervened.

"I need none of your help." Lon'qu could not help being embarrassed, being seen by a woman in such a pathetic state "Leave me be."

He registered the flicker hurt in her eyes, but the sight was hidden to him when she bowed her head in apology and acknowledgement "As you wish." Robin walked to the other side of the tent, picking up her bowl along the way, settling there to eat.

_What do I do, to get myself into things like this…_

Internally Lon'qu was withering, like a summer bloom in winter frosts, but he dared not to speak with her again. He did not want to offend her anymore than he already had done. After all, his life was in the balance of her hands. Knowing full well that he was in her domain, the man tried to keep his behaviour on the line but it was bordering unacceptable and inappropriate at current times.

_And yet, she continues to care for me… Why?_

Inside his bowl, the porridge waited for him to eat it. When he dipped his spoon in the lumpy meal and brought it to his mouth, Lon'qu realised exactly how hungry he was. It was extremely bitter, but he found that he did not mind the flavor very much. The texture and taste of the meal was similar to the herbs he had to eat before going for a round in Arena Ferox, to keep his stamina up. Ravenous, he downed the measly ration.

She could barely force another mouthful of the poison down. Robin felt repulsed simply by looking at that grey-green dirty mess on her bowl. It leered back up at her porcelain face, taunting her with its lumpy composition and oozing all over the wooden bowl. The stray, baby droplets around the bowl were chanting and singing about her misfortune to come across them.

_At least this is good for me… Mother always said that healthy, hearty foods taste the poorest._

Holding her breath, she pulled another wad of porridge away from its peers and swallowed it down. Chewing the porridge, the bitterness swirled in her mouth. Robin wished she could hear the fiend screaming in pain, coupled with the cries and yells of forgiveness from its friends, begging her to set it back down. Her eyes wandered upwards and stopped at Lon'qu, eating the vile foodstuff.

_Oh, damn._

In his hands, given to him by a total accident, was the bowl she had filled up with more of the odious edibles. Robin could have died with embarrassment. She had obsessed over his wellbeing since his arrival and then ruined it by feeding her guest the terrible things inside that pot.

"Lon'qu?" She called out, wanting to apologise "I-"

Caught unaware, he dropped the bowl with a clatter and looked up in fear. The spoon lolled about on the floor lazily, leaving several traces of porridge behind. She picked up an old rag to clean up the mess and started to come over.

Robin had walked several paces before slipping and falling on a stray piece of clothing "Oh, Naga…" Dusting herself, she continued towards Lon'qu, cheeks flushed.

He instinctively raised his hands to protect himself from the woman, cowering behind his blanket. She could have sworn he had shrunken to at least half his actual size when she crouched down beside him. Robin snuck a peek at his facial expression, bypassing his shivering arms. Lon'qu's eyes were tightly shut and he was mumbling.

"Lon'qu… please look at me…"

_Could it be..._

A wicked smile could not be suppressed when he went stiff with from a simple touch on the head "Heh." She slowly turned his head away from his knees.

_Is he…_

Reluctantly, he opened an eye and blanched at her unnaturally happy, amused face "W-What's so funny?" Lon'qu shivered as her grin steadily widened.

_Oh, yes, he is..._

"Heheh." Robin smirked "Heheheheh…"

"W-what are you laughing at?!" The poor swordsman could not understand why she was laughing, especially in that sort of tone "Tell me what you are laughing at!"

_How can he be… so very terrified…?_

"Hahahaha!" She doubled over, as she saw him recoil when she leaned forwards "Ahahahaha!"

_Of… me?_

"M-m-mad woman, e-explain yourself!" He was severely shaken by the sudden flip of behaviour from the woman "W-what do you want with me?!"

"Hahahaha!" Robin rolled onto his bed spread "Hahahaha!"

_Oh, Naga, Naga, Naga help me..._

"S-stop that!" Lon'qu gripped her coat scruff and halted her seemingly random bouncing "J-just stop…"

Robin's hands touched his when she loosened his grip. She turned her head over on his lap, serenity washing over her features again. But a mischievous twinkle lingered still in her eyes, glittering invitingly at him. He grimaced and let her go.

Falling fully onto his lap, she spoke to him "Haaah… Thank you for making me smile…"

Lon'qu looked surprised. She was thanking for making her smile.

_…?_

Then she sighed "It has been a first in the long run."

He frowned, not knowing how to react at her statement and her current relaxing position.

_What is she trying to say?_

"In this blasted war…" The tactician sat upright and opened her eyes again, this time without the spark of life he had seen before "In this dreaded war, there is death waiting at every step, every corner."

_Of course._

He tried to speak, but she interrupted him "Apologies… I have yet to tell you of your location and current situation in the war, yes?"

Lon'qu closed his mouth and simply nodded.

_So… she is the woman from that time..._


End file.
